In an age when recycling is all the fashion, purchasing previously owned jewelry has come full cycle as a fashionable activity.

In the jewelry trade it's known as estate jewelry and according to Richard Arens, co-owner of the Estate Jewelers' Association of America, estate jewelry provides one-of-a-kind items with "workmanship that is second to none. You just can't get it anymore. And because it's second-hand, they're at reduced rates. It's just a tremendous value vs. buying a modern piece of jewelry."

Locally, two of the long-established dealers in estate jewelry are Freeman and Bixler's jewelers. Philip Bixler Mitman, president of Bixler's, said "estate jewelry" has different meanings to different people. The term can mean antique jewelry which is 75-100 years or older. "But estate to some," he adds, "means pre-owned and it could only be 10 years old."

Or it can mean used celebrity jewelry. Last year Freeman sold the pear-shaped Siberian amethyst-and-diamond earrings and matching gold ring worn by first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton for her husband's inaugural ball.

Patricia Ward, who runs the estate jewelry department at Freeman for more than two decades, said a local woman, whom she won't identify, purchased the earrings, set with more than 2 carats of diamonds and appraised at $20,000.

The 18.3-carat amethyst ring with more than 3 carats of diamonds and appraised at $28,000, went to an out-of-town buyer.

Ward said the local buyer "has really enjoyed the whole aspect of Hillary owning or wearing the earrings, but she's not really a collector. Her intent is to eventually donate them to the Smithsonian."

Freeman is a member of the EJAA, but the company's estate jewelry operation predates the association by more than 18 years. They deal in celebrity pieces, but much of their estate jewelry comes from regular folks.

"People often have no idea what they have," points out Robert Freeman Siegfried, owner of Freeman, "so we offer to separate the wheat from the chaff." He cited an instance early on in their operation in which some people brought in bags and bags of costume jewelry. They were going to give it away Siegfried said, but as he went through it he discovered, "two very, very fine precious jade necklaces."

"I remember sitting in a bank," Siegfried continued, "going through the same kind of stuff while lawyers for the estate sat around watching. Again I found an extraordinary piece of jade in with the worst type of junk you could imagine."

People still come in with suitcases full of jewelry containing a little bit of everything, Ward said, "hoping that the whole thing is full of good stuff. And sometimes there are diamonds mixed in with the costume."

* Edwardian, 1900-1920, beginning of lacy, open work and delicate, labor intensive designs called filigree, featured small diamonds and seed pearls;

* Art Deco, 1915- mid-1930s, jewelry design hit its peak during this period. Included all kinds of colored gemstones, filigree, strong in rings and pendants;

* Retro, 1940 though mid-'50s.

"Those periods are really what you call the collectors' area," Mitman said. "Look for any of those periods and there are many, many lovely designs which are certainly not made today. There is some reproduction, however, and some of it is pretty good, so the buyer must be aware of what's reproduction and what is genuine."

Variety is the spice of estate jewelry, said Siegfried who pointed out that period-style changes provide a wild variety of selection. "Jewelry doesn't really wear out so recycling is a necessary thing," Siegfried said. "You want to get it in the right hands where the right people can see it. The trick is to make sure you're dealing with an up-and-up company."

Arens also cautions potential sellers to seek out a reputable dealer with knowledge of the marketplace because certain items sell better in different places.

For example, according to Ward, rubies sell well in the West, but not in the East. Sapphires are the big sellers on the East Coast, but there is no rhyme or reason for it.